asked the Minister for the Environment why firemen employed by Limerick Corporation had to wait for such a long period before their claim for a revised rent allowance was sanctioned by him.

For some years past it has been the practice for special revisions in the pay and conditions of Limerick Corporation's firemen to follow similar revisions in the Cork Fire Brigade. The relevant revision of the rent allowance for firemen in Cork Corporation was sanctioned in September 1981 and a proposal from Limerick Corporation for a consequential revision was sanctioned on 2 October 1981. In both cases the effective date of the revision is the same.